Client snapshot: The Paleo Practitioner.

Paleo explained.

To get a better understanding of the Paleo mindset, I asked my nutritionist, Erin Finch of http://holisticallyfed.com to explain the needs and thoughts of people eating lots of high quality produce while on the paleo journey.

Erin Finch is a graduate of Bauman College and a Certified Nutrition Consultant. Erin grew up eating highly processed foods she thought were “healthy” focusing on calories rather than the nutrient density, quality, and care of the food she ate. Erin has also been very active her whole life playing high school sports, college intramural and is currently a Certified Personal Fitness Trainer and currently keeping fit chasing her 14-month-old little girl!. Before she embarked on a new health journey, her busy and active lifestyle in combination with a nutrient depleted diet caused her to experience constant fatigue, stress, anxiety, fluctuations in weight, blood sugar imbalance, sleep issues and more. Her fast-paced lifestyle influences her recommendations to be practical and time-efficient. Her belief in nutrition is simple: Eat real food (seasonal, organic, unprocessed and local when possible) that is tailored to your individual needs and your body will respond with lasting health. She does not believe in any one size fits all diet or counting calories. Every individual is unique in how they metabolize and process food and she considers that when working with each and every client. In addition to graduating from Bauman College, Erin holds a Bachelors degree in Science with a focus in health from Texas A&M University in College Station. Erin is also a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner.

Holistically Fed, with Erin Finch, seeks to empower individuals and groups to take control of their health once and for all through whole foods nutrition and supportive lifestyle habits. Holistically Fed does this by using a Holistic approach to health considering each as a whole and not simply its parts. If you work one-on-one with Erin, she will create a customized plan with recommendations regarding food, supplements and lifestyle changes, tailored to your individual needs including any health issues at the time.

Paleo Movement Explained:

Paleo is quite simple. The whole movement behind paleo is to get back to the basics of nutrition, and that is simply to eat real whole properly prepared foods from nature and eliminate processed and artificial foods. The name Paleo comes from the fact that we are aiming to mimic the way our

Paleolithic ancestors ate, before the agricultural revolution began, before many of the modern day diseases that are so common today even existed. The goal behind the Paleo movement is also to eat the most nutrient-dense food choices. Quality over quantity. With that in mind, unlimited amounts of vegetables (mostly greens), organic grass-fed meats, some fruit and some nuts and seeds will always be your best choices. This is not another fad diet but to me simply the most logical way to eat regarding overall health.

Specific vegetables:

I don’t think you can go wrong with any one vegetable! I encourage people to incorporate a wide variety of greens because they all provide unique blends of nutrients and phytonutrients that are vital to our health. Kale and spinach are always a winner when it comes to nutrient density!

Legumes:

Legumes, just like grains and even some nuts and seeds contain what’s called phytic acid. Phytic acid binds important minerals like phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, zinc and even iron and prevents them from being absorbed by the body. When consumed in high amounts these foods can lead to mineral deficiencies. There are ways to properly prepare legumes such as soaking, and then sprouting that reduce the phytic acid levels but this still doesn’t remove it completely. The Weston A Price Foundation wrote an excellent article on this topic that goes into detail about how to properly prepare these types of foods, but the problem is most people don’t find it realistic to take the time to properly prepare these foods. The alternative is to simply eat foods that don’t have these anti-nutrients and choose foods that hold the most nutrient density and our bodies can easily digest like I mentioned before. It’s not to say you can never enjoy some beans, but choosing those over some grass-fed meat and greens will not be your most nutrient dense choice, especially if you don’t take the time to properly prepare them.

Selling to paleo crowd:

A big message that the Paleo crowd is taught is always quality over quantity when it comes to food choice, so making sure your customers know you are selling the highest quality of produce, that it’s pesticide-free, locally grown, etc. are all huge sellers to this crowd!

Where are paleo people at?

Paleo is very popular among the Crossfit crowd. These are a group of people who are typically very serious about not only their health but their performance in the gym which is a direct reflection of the foods they eat. Making connections with any fitness or gym center is always a good idea because this is where your health conscious people are at!

Different diets explained:

Whole30 is a 30-day challenge designed by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig that is an elimination paleo diet. It is much more restrictive than just paleo but only for 30 days to help kick sugar addiction, rebalance your hormones and so much more. They restrict certain foods like honey or any baked goods made with paleo ingredients like pancakes and muffins. I highly recommend their program to anyone who is looking to give paleo a try. It’s only 30 days. Diets like Atkins are very carb restrictive where paleo naturally is also but is not anti-carb! Eat all the carbs you want on Paleo just choose the right kinds with nutrient density. Some of my favorite dense carbohydrate sources include plantains, sweet potatoes, parsnips, and pumpkin!

How to approach a nutritionist:

I think a great way to partner and approach a nutritionist would be to allow them to come and do talks on the benefits of your products at your place. When people are educated on the value of foods, they are much more inclined to buy them. Offer to have them do some cooking demos, juicing demos, etc. that utilize your products as well. This gets them in front of people, your products in front of people and builds community all at the same time. It’s a win-win!

Ways to add greens to diet:

Some of my personal favorite ways to add greens to my diet include adding handfuls of greens to my omelet every morning. Adding the to any smoothie I make is also easy and a quick nutrient-packed snack. The color might gross some people out, but you don’t taste it. If you have never tried kale chips, you need to! It’s an excellent alternative to a potato chip that satisfies a salty craving. Break off your kale leaves from the stem and lie them on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, but not too much or they will turn out soggy. Sprinkle with sea salt and then bake them in the oven at 350 for about 10-12 minutes checking in them to make sure they don’t burn. So good!!

Nick Burton, Founder: Growers Coach

Owner of multiple companies, public speaker, and coach of hydroponic & farm to market agricultural operations. With 20 years in the green industry we have the experience, resources, and connections to bring your farm to the next level of profit and sustainable operation.